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Marketo. Eloqua. HubSpot. Pardot. Act-On. With so many marketing automation platforms and services available today, how can you determine which products best fit your needs?
It all starts with research, of course, such as checking out reviews and product comparisons on G2 Crowd, TrustRadius, Capterra or Software Insider. Next up, talk to marketing colleagues about the platforms they use. It's also a great idea to create lists of goals needs, and necessary tools.
Most of all, you need to ask marketing automation software providers lots of questions, and then ask those same questions of each individual vendor, so it's easy to make "apples-to-apples" comparisons.
These 12 questions, contributed by marketing professionals and other experts, can help you prepare the proper queries beforehand and form frameworks for evaluating marketing technology providers.
1. What about CRM integration? Does the information flow both ways?
Ideally, marketing automation platforms will integrate with Salesforce or another CRM platform, according to Adam Bockler, communications manager at Float. Ask about the specific CRM features available in the platform itself to determine if they're suitable. "Not everyone needs Salesforce, especially if...